noun
brother
BRUH-thuh
noun
1
A boy or man who shares at least one parent with you.
"My brother is two years older than me."
"She has three brothers and one sister."
2
A man treated as a close ally, peer, or fellow member of a group, cause, or community.
"The soldiers who served together called each other brothers."
"He greeted the other union members as brothers."
3
A title used for a male member of a religious order.
"Brother Michael has run the monastery school for twenty years."
intj
1
Used to express frustration, disbelief, or exasperation.
""Oh, brother," he sighed, watching the queue grow longer."
How to Use Brother
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA male sibling, or by extension, a man treated like family because of shared loyalty, cause, or community.
Common pairings
big brother
little brother
brother in arms
Word Forms
brothered past tense, brothers plural, brethren plural, Brothers plural, brothers singular
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Etymology
One of the oldest words in the language, tracing back through Old English brōþor to the ancient Proto-Indo-European word for "brother" — related to similar words in nearly every European and many Asian languages, from German Bruder to Sanskrit bhrātṛ.